For many years, military and aircraft specifications have required that rivets, bolt holes, seams and other components in an aircraft be sealed by coating desired surfaces with an approved material. Such material typically is packaged in an unmixed form within a cartridge assembly containing a sealant which must be combined with a hardener before the resulting material can be applied. More particularly, the cartridge assembly is comprised of a tubular cartridge having a closed end for retaining a supply of sealant therein, and a tube containing a hardener which is injected into the cartridge with a separate push rod and then blended together with a sealant therein by means of a mixing vane on one end of the tube disposed within the cartridge. Another end of the hardener tube terminates outside the cartridge in a wheel handle which is simultaneously rotated and reciprocated by hand relative to a restricted open end of the cartridge in order to effect the necessary mixing of the sealant and hardener inside the cartridge. Because the sealant and hardener are extremely dense and highly viscous materials, it has always taken rigorous labor intensive efforts and an unreasonable amount of time to combine these ingredients before their application. Once the sealant and its hardener have been mixed, the hardener tube is removed and the mixture is applied through the restricted open end of the cartridge using variously sized and shaped nozzles, orifices, and dispensers.
Accordingly, there exists a definite need to provide for the more efficient mixing of sealant and hardener in a cartridge assembly. It is desirable to provide an adapter that may be employed to couple a powered rotary drill to the wheel handle of the standard cartridge assembly so as to eliminate the need for application of manual force.
It is one of object of the present invention to provide an interfacing device which will vastly improve the combining of a sealant and hardener as used in aircraft applications.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a simplified adapter which is extremely durable, yet lightweight and may be carried easily in one's hand or pocket.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an adapter which may be used with a variety of power drills and various wheel handles of cartridge assemblies.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an adapter which is reasonably inexpensive to manufacture, that may be conveniently and quickly used, and that consists of a one-piece design with no moving parts.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an adapter which is corrosion-resistant and does not necessitate special tools to install or remove, nor require any maintenance.
In one aspect of the invention, an adapter is provided for mixing a hardener and a sealant within a cartridge assembly having a handle rotatably and reciprocably mounted therein. The adapter includes a cylindrical base having a first flat surface provided with a coupling pin extending substantially perpendicular thereto. The coupling pin is adapted to be chucked into a powered drill. The base has a second flat surface provided with a plurality of spaced apart, headed elements engageable within the cartridge assembly handle. The adapter is constructed and arranged to transfer rotary motion from the drill to the handle to enable mixing of the sealant and hardener together. The adapter is preferably constructed of stainless steel, and the headed elements are a pair of rivets of identical construction. The periphery of the base is slightly smaller than the periphery of the handle. The handle is formed with walls defining a pair of spaced apart apertures, the walls being engageable with the headed elements.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided an arrangement for mixing materials together. The cartridge assembly includes a tubular cartridge holding a seal therein and having a closed end and an open end. The cartridge assembly further has a tube slidably and rotatably mounted relative to the open end of the cartridge and holding a hardener therein. The tube has an open end for introducing hardener into the cartridge, the tube open end being provided with a structure for mixing the sealant with the hardener. The tube also has a closed end external to the cartridge and is provided with a wheel handle for rotating and reciprocating the tube inside the cartridge. The handle has a flat mounting surface formed with walls defining a pair of spaced apart apertures therein. An adapter has a base with one side in contact with the handle mounting surface and includes a pair of rivets aligned with an engageable with the walls forming the apertures. The base has an opposite side provided with a coupling pin extending substantially perpendicular thereto and adapted to be retained in a powered drill. With this construction, upon initial rotary motion of the drill, the rivets contact the walls forming the apertures so as to enable slidable and rotary movement of the tube and the mixing structure for combining the sealant and hardener together in the cartridge. The cartridge, the tube and the handle are preferably constructed of a high density, polyethylene material.
In yet another aspect of the invention, there is contemplated a method for mixing a hardener and sealant within a cartridge assembly having a handle rotatably and reciprocably mounted therein. The method includes the step of providing an adapter comprised of a cylindrical base having a first flat surface provided with a coupling pin extending substantially perpendicular thereto, and a second flat surface opposite the first flat surface having a pair of spaced apart rivets, the coupling pin adapted to be received in a powered drill; and engaging the handle of the cartridge assembly with the rivets so as to transfer rotary motion from the drill to the handle.
There has been outlined the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended thereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.